But the Blue Train gave a valiant effort in Saturday night’s 31-26 loss to Skyline in the 4A state semifinals at the Tacoma Dome. Each time the Spartans (11-2) pushed a little further ahead, the No. 1-ranked Cougars (12-1) stormed back and kept things close — but victory was just a bit too far out of reach for the locals on this night.

“We got behind, but, you know, we came back and we knew we could do it. A couple plays here and there didn’t go our way, and, I mean, today just wasn’t our day,” said Colin Porter, Bothell’s 6-foot-5, 310-pound lineman.

Added Skyline’s Kasen Williams, who caught four passes for 45 yards on the night: “Bothell’s definitely a really good team, definitely a team you don’t wanna take lightly. You can tell by the scoreboard, it was definitely a battle to the end.”

Bothell’s Mitchell Muller tossed a pair of touchdown passes to John Sullivan (47 yards) and Kevin Knapp (11 yards) and Luke Proulx added a 5-yard touchdown run with 9:38 left in the game to help cut Skyline’s lead to 28-26.

Crucial plays for Skyline were an Adam Albaum fumble recovery and 52-yard return for a touchdown with 8:38 left in the first half (Skyline 14-7), and a Nick Washburn 8-yard TD run with 1:26 left in the third quarter (Skyline 28-19).

Porter was proud when his team clicked into comeback mode on offense and kept Skyline from tacking on more points with three interceptions and some rugged defensive plays.

“The season was awesome, something I’m never gonna forget, even though we lost,” he said. “I’m sad to lose all these guys, they’re like my family.”

This article was originally published in the Bothell Reporter on November 28, 2009.